Your first year at the university is one of the most exciting times of your life. For the first time, you get to experience freedom, privacy and a blend of social/academic life. However, there are activities attributed to those in the fresher years. Whether as an aspirant or fresher, you must have heard the term “Bloody Fresher”.
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As a fresher, you have most likely been called one as well. This term is used to point out or sometimes ridicule the peculiar acts of a fresher. Though not all acts are peculiar, many are commonly practiced by them.
Activities and mindsets common to OAU freshers include, but are not limited to the following;
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1. MOZ101
This is the act of wooing female freshers. The name of the act is carved from the name “Mozambique Hall”, popularly called “Moz” (a female hall of residence occupied by mainly freshers). The male freshers new to University life, who mostly reside in the hall adjacent to Moz (Angola Hall) usually spend nights visiting the hall to pursue relationships. Anglo-Moz, the bus stop and park in between these two hostels is another popular venue for flirtatious and intimate acts. These activities take place mostly at night.
2. Cluelessness
Though this has been tamed down by orientation, many freshers are still a little clueless about how the university works. They may spend the first few months figuring out their way around the campus (which exposes them to potential exploitation by public transport providers), name and location of lecture halls, the price of certain services, prominent locations on campus, name of buildings, lecture systems, test and exam systems, grading systems, hall of residence rules and regulations, etc. This kind of cluelessness can make a fresher take bike from Amphitheatre to 1000SLT, pay #500 transport from gate to bus stop or buy a lecture material that is not needed/essential to the course.
3. Running From One Lecture Hall To Another
This is one of the trademarks of a fresher. This is due to them being new to lectures, with fresh zeal to learn and a fear of being late to lectures. Freshers are always known for running in groups from one lecture hall to another, to get there on time. This struggle still continues in the lecture hall as they scramble for front seats to hear the lecturer and take note of the lectures clearly. They can run from 1000SLT to Chem. Engine LT in less than 5 minutes.
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4. Arriving At The Lecture An Hour Early
This mostly happens in the very first lecture of such freshers. A lecture hall meant to be used at 8am can be filled to the brim as early as 7am or even 6:30am. This is also most common among science students as they struggle to attend lectures early and get good seats early to grasp the complicated lecture and calculations. Classes like CHM101, MTH101, PHY101 and so on always get filled up (commonly at 1000SLT) first thing in the morning.
5. Almost 100% Lecture Attendance
A lot of freshers try to never miss a class. They only tend to miss it when something unavoidable happens. This is either primarily to learn, hang out, flex, show off their clothing, take attendance or simply due to fear of missing a class, etc. However, a lot of freshers get accustomed to skipping classes as time goes by.
6. Constant visits by Students’ Fellowships and Churches
Every Students’ Fellowship is out to gain more members and win more souls. Each session, freshers are always their “fresh targets”. On Saturday evenings & Sunday mornings (due to the visiting hours on weekends being 10am), Angola and Mozambique Hall is always flooded with fellowship students preaching to freshers, inviting them to their fellowships or even as far as pressurizing them to attend. Almost every fresher can testify to this. It is also more prevalent for those who don’t attend churches regularly on Sundays, don’t belong to a specific church or for reasons known to them don’t attend church at all.
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7. Parties and Hangouts
Even though this is done by all students, freshers are always the most excited and most eager for such events. Every department has its Fresher’s party, an event exclusive to freshers which normally takes place at the beginning of the session. Several hangouts and parties (which also take place in Anglo-Moz ) are popular among freshers.
8. Lavish Spending & Extravagant Dressing
As a fresh student, the desire to slay is strong. Being their first time attending classes in any attire of their choice (in accordance with OAU’s code of ethics of course) and gaining freedom, most freshers will love to spend good money on attractive outfits, accessories, hair. Money is also spent on recreational activities to flex and relax. They would love to spend time at New Bukka, Staff Quarter’s pool, have picnics at gardens and just simply enjoy life.
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9. Overnight Reading
Everyone does overnight reading. However, freshers are more prone to this due to it being their first year in OAU. They tend to have a lot of seriousness in their studies to start building a solid CGPA. They also do this due to the overall eagerness of a first test/exam, knowing that it wouldn’t be like their secondary school days.
10. Tutorials
Private Tutorials make a huge amount of their income via freshers. The majority of the courses taught during tutorials are part 1 courses. (MTH101, MTH102, PHY101, PHY102, SSC105, SSC106,PHL101, PHL104,etc). The courses stated earlier are considered to be among the most challenging courses and therefore, many freshers patronize these tutorials for a better understanding of the courses.
How many of these can you relate to as a fresher? Which one of these did you do in your fresher days? Which activities do you believe are getting more or less prevalent among freshers? Feel free to state your opinion in the comments section below.
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